Hunter and Hunted
by WebofSpideyguy7245698
Summary: Title will possibly change. AU. At the end of The Titan's Curse, Annabeth is chosen to be a Hunter instead of Thalia. Now, five years later, Percy has gone cold. So what happens when Annabeth turns up and they're assigned to a special mission? Rated M for Language, Violence and Suggestive Themes. Eventual Percabeth. POSTPONED
1. Chapter 1: Reunions

Hunter and Hunted

Chapter 1: Reunions

 _ **Disclaimer: I Don't Own the Percy Jackson Series or Any of the Characters. All Rights go to Rick Riordian for creating this Extraordinary Adventure!**_

 _Author's Note:_

* Hello and welcome to the story!

* This is a story that takes place in an alternate universe in which Annabeth joined the Hunters of Artemis instead of Thalia. I've seen quite a few stories about this topic and it made me what to give it a shot. So, that's what this is! Also, the story starts off at towards the end of The Titan's Curse.

* But anyway, favorite and follow the story if you liked it (no pressure!) and don't forget to review if you want to submit input! Anyway, let's get right into the story!

 _Percy_

 _Mount Olympus_

There we were, standing in the throne room of Olympus. The Gods were voting on whether or not they should kill us. Zeus spoke:

"And what of the risk? Kronos knows full well, if one of you were to sacrifice the beast's entrails, you would have the power to destroy us. Do you think we can let that possibility remain? You, my daughter, will turn sixteen on the morrow, just as the prophecy says."

"You have to trust them," Annabeth spoke up. "Sir, you have to trust them."

Zeus scowled.

"Trust a hero?" he asked.

"Annabeth is right," Artemis said. "Which is why I must first make a reward. My faithful companion, Zoe Nightshade, has passed into the stars. I must have a new lieutenant. And I intend to choose one. But first, Father Zeus, I must speak to you privately."

Zeus beckoned Artemis forward. He leaned down and listened as she spoke into his ear. A feeling of panic seized me.

"Annabeth," I said under my breath. "Don't."

She frowned at me.

"What?" she asked.

"Look, I need to tell you something," I said.

The words came tumbling out of me.

"I couldn't stand it if… I don't want you to-"

"Percy?" she said. "You look like you're going to be sick."

And that's how I felt. I wanted to say more, but my tongue betrayed me. It wouldn't move because of the fear in my stomach. And then Artemis turned.

"I shall have a new lieutenant," she announced. "If she will accept it."

"No," I murmured.

"Annabeth," Artemis said. "Daughter of Athena. Will you join the Hunt?"

My heart began hammering in my chest. Stunned silence filled the room. I stared at Annabeth, unable to believe what I was hearing. I wanted to scream at her to say no, but for some reason, my voice refused to work. And then, against all my wishes, it happened. Thalia smiled sadly at Annabeth, squeezed her hand and let go, nodding at her with approval.

"Yes." She said in a firm tone.

 _No!_

My blood had run cold. It felt like the entire world around me had stopped. I wanted to scream. It took all of my will power not to. Actually, scratch that. I couldn't talk, it felt like I couldn't see, and it felt like I couldn't breathe. Now I really did feel like I was going to be sick. I let out quick, shallow breathes as I reached for the neck of my shirt. I pulled on it, as if that would help me breathe.

"Nephew?" I heard Zeus ask, sounding like he was far away. "What troubles you?"

I had never heard Zeus address me as "nephew" before, but I couldn't worry about that now. I pulled on the neck of my shirt harder, desperate for breath.

"Percy?" I heard Annabeth ask. "What's wrong?"

 _No, you're not here._ I thought to myself.

For some reason, her voice sounded even farther away than Zeus's voice. My vision had darkened so much, that I couldn't even comprehend where I was anymore. I felt like I was choking, even though there was nothing in my throat to choke on.

"Percy?" Thalia called out to me, her voice sounding distant as well.

"I can't." I said in hoarse voice. "I can't."

Then, I felt the sensation as if I were falling and I lost consciousness.

"Percy!" the last thing I heard was Annabeth and Thalia calling out my name with worry, in unison.

 _Sometime Later_

I eventually came around and Thalia told me that I had fainted. When I asked what had happened, she had told me that Annabeth had accepted the invitation to join the Hunt. And that's when I felt it. I felt dead inside from that point on. After it was over, Thalia tried to talk to me, but I just wanted to be left alone. So, I left the throne room and went down to the lower levels of Olympus to be by myself for a while. I was down there, staring out at the clouds below us, when I heard the footsteps behind me. I didn't move from my place.

"Hey." I heard Annabeth say from behind me.

"Hey." I said in a glum voice, not turning to face her. "Aren't you supposed to be with Artemis and your sisters now? Why would you come to me when you're not supposed to be around boys?"

Annabeth said nothing for a second or two.

"You kind of freaked out, you know, after the conference?" she said.

"Freak out?" I asked chucking, as I turned to face her. "I had a freak out? Annabeth, I was fine!"

She stared at me with concern.

"Percy, you fainted." She said. "Are you alright?"

I nodded without hesitation.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said. "Never better."

"Percy, it sounded like you wanted to tell me something before you fainted." She said. "What was it?"

I thought about whether I should tell her or not. I finally decided against it.

"You know what?" I asked. "It doesn't matter."

"Okay." She said.

We both went silent after that. And that's when I realized something. I still had her blue Yankees cap.

"Here." I said as I took it out of my back pocket and handed it to her. "I believe this belongs to you."

Annabeth eyed it, probably remembering how she had lost it at Westover Hall just a week ago. She reached for it and her fingers had barely touched it, then she stopped. She smiled and drew her hand back.

"You know what? You keep it, Percy." She said. "I don't think I'll need that cap anymore. Besides, it's something for you to remember me by."

 _Something for me to remember her by?_ I thought.

That's when it hit me.

"So, I guess this is it, isn't it?" I asked.

She looked at me, her stunning gray eyes seemed to reflect all of the emotions that I had been feeling. However, if she really did feel those emotions, she didn't say.

"Yeah, I guess so." She said.

We stood there in silence for what seemed like ages. Finally, she opened her arms to me.

"Come here." She said at last.

I walked into her grip and embraced her in a hug. She returned the hug for a few seconds and then pulled away.

"Goodbye, Percy." She said as she pulled away. "You'll always be my friend."

She kissed my cheek, just like she had last summer and then walked past me. As she walked past, I looked down at the marble floor of the path I stood on. For some reason I wanted to cry, but no tears came.

 _Camp Half-Blood_

 _Five Years Later_

I sat at the bottom of the canoe lake, next to the bottom of the pier, in Camp Half-Blood. I heard a splash from above me and I knew it was only a matter of time until someone drifted down to where I was. A few seconds later, Thalia floated down next to me, wearing a jet black one piece swimsuit.

I let out a sigh as I formed an air bubble around us, so she could breathe. In the last few years I had been training harder than before. Now when I made an air bubble, I could determine whether or not the bubble's edges were solid, that way someone could sit down in the bubble without falling out of it. Thalia sat down in the bubble across from me.

"Where did you go, Percy?" she asked. "I lost you there for a while!"

I shrugged.

"I needed to be alone with my thoughts for a while." I said. "And this was the only place where I could do it."

Thalia said nothing in return. I looked back down at my feet, until she spoke a few minutes later.

"Hey." She said. "Come here."

I looked up at Thalia, to see that she had a suggestive grin on her face. There was also a mischievous twinkle in her electric blue eyes. I scooted closer to her and as I did that, she did the same. Eventually our lips met, and our hands traveled. My hands went to her waist, while she put her arms around my neck as I laid down against the bubble. We made out for about ten seconds or so and then we broke the kiss. She stared down at me lovingly, as she stroked my arm.

"Wow, Percy." She said. "Anyone ever tell you that you're a great kisser?"

"Yeah." I said. "You tell me that every time we kiss, Thalia."

Thalia and I had been dating for about a year, by the way. She asked me out last year, around what would have been the end of my junior year of high school. It got so dangerous for me to try to keep going to school, that I had to drop out. And much to my chagrin, I had start going to Camp Half-Blood full time.

I would dare to say that our relationship wasn't even "real". I honestly think that she had just started dating me to try to cheer me up. I think that she knew I thought about Annabeth a lot. I mean, it was obvious to most of the campers. She smiled and pulled me into another kiss. This one didn't last as long, and I pulled away early. Thalia regarded me with a strange look.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Is something wrong?"

I remained silent.

"Seaweed Brain, talk to me!" she said.

For the slightest second, my temper flared and memories of those couple summers and that those couple winter days with Annabeth flashed into my mind. I didn't get mad at Thalia, though. I finally turned to look at her.

"Thalia, I just don't think this relationship is going to work anymore." I said. "Don't get me wrong, you have been great, and you have been cheering me up so much. But I've never really been comfortable dating you."

"And why's that?" she asked.

"Because, we're both children of the Big Three." I said.

"I don't think I follow." She said.

"Think about it." I said. "Zeus is your dad and Poseidon is my dad. We're technically cousins."

"You do realize that Gods and Goddesses don't have DNA, right?" she asked.

I sighed.

"Well, other than that, it's just the fact that you're not…"

"I'm just not her. I'm not Annabeth, right?" she asked, interrupting me. "Tell me I'm right, Percy."

I sighed.

"You're right." I said. "But how did you know that?"

"What can I say?" she asked as she shrugged. "I had been expecting you to say that for months now. Also, if Annabeth is the one you want, minus the fact that she's a Hunter now, you should know that would kind of be the same thing. Poseidon is your dad and Annabeth is a child of Athena. Athena is Zeus' daughter, so that would make you and Annabeth cousins if that DNA even existed."

"Whatever." I said in gloomy tone.

"Say no more, Seaweed Brain!" Thalia said in a cheery voice. "If you don't want to be with me, I won't hold a grudge against you. I would still like to be your friend and I wish you well on your path."

I chuckled. Her "I wish you well on your path" thing was nice.

"Okay, I appreciate it." I said. "But I would prefer that you don't call me Seaweed Brain, Pinecone Face. Only Annabeth ever called me Seaweed Brain."

Thalia chuckled herself.

"Okay. I would ask _you_ not to call me _that_." She said.

"Fair enough." I said.

"Come on," she said as she took my hand and pulled me up. "The rest of the campers are going to be meeting at the Dining Pavilion soon. We should get out of the water now."

I shook my head.

"You go on ahead." I said. "I think I'm going to go down to the Training Arena. I need some time to myself."

Thalia looked at me concern.

"Um, okay then." She said. "Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Always." I said, before breaking the air bubble so she could swim back to the surface.

Once she was gone, I sat there at the bottom for a few more minutes and then went to the surface myself. I surfaced at the edge of the dock, grabbed it and pulled myself out of the water. Being a son of Poseidon, I was naturally dry. I collected my shirt which sat at the edge of the dock and put it back on, as I walked back towards the cabins.

I walked into Cabin Three, Poseidon's cabin, but I didn't bother to close the door behind me. I went over to my weapon rack, which I had built in the Camp's forges and collected a few things. I didn't have a lot of weapons. All I had was a bow, a quiver of arrows, a few daggers and a shield.

I picked up a spare dagger just in case, as well as my bow and quiver of arrows just in case I wanted to practice my archery. I walked over to the side table that sat next to my bed and picked up the two Ace bandages that sat there. With all of those, I walked out of the cabin and towards the Training Arena. Last summer we got a new addition to the Training Arena. At the request of Clarisse, a few punching bags were added. And not just like the small punching bags. They were full body bags.

Once I got to the Training Arena, I sat down all my weapons and walked up to one of the punching bags. I let out a sigh as I began to wrap the Ace bandages around my hands. After that I began punching the bag. Ten or fifteen minutes had passed in no time. The next thing I knew, Clarisse was walking into the Training Arena.

"Hey, Jackson!" she exclaimed upon seeing me. "I didn't see you at the Dining Pavilion! Where were you?"

She stepped up and took the bag next to me and began to hit it with her bare fists, no Ace bandages or anything. Just so you know, Clarisse and I were on good terms now. Granted we weren't best friends, but we could talk to each other without her getting her panties wadded up.

"I needed to blow off some steam." I said in a simple tone as I continued working the bag.

"Must have been pretty serious for you to just skip dinner." She said as she worked on her bag.

I didn't respond after that. Maybe I should have gone to dinner, because about five minutes after Clarisse arrived, Chiron, Grover and Thalia arrived, too.

"Percy!" Grover exclaimed as he reached me first. "Where were you at dinner?"

I punched the bag one last time, before I turned to look at him, huffing and puffing, as well as sweating.

"I needed time for myself." I said. "I'm fine."

Chiron slowed to a pace as he reached me.

"You never showed for dinner, Percy." He said. "You may almost be an adult, but I show concern for you."

I took a breath of air before I spoke.

"I'm fine, Chiron." I said. "Tell him, Grover."

Thalia walked up to me next.

"Damn!" she said. "When you said you needed time to yourself, you weren't kidding, were you?"

"Language!" Chiron replied in a stern tone. "And stay out of this, little one."

Thalia didn't seem to be pleased, being called "little one." Her electric blues eyes flashed with anger.

"Don't call me "little one", Chiron." She said in a dangerous tone.

"It's the truth, Thalia." Grover said.

"I'm twenty one years old!" Thalia exclaimed.

"Well, now that can still be little, little one." Grover said.

Thalia's electric blue eyes glowed dangerously, as the front of Grover's orange Camp Half-Blood shirt began to sizzle.

"Thalia…" Chiron said with caution.

"Thalia, back off!" I exclaimed, getting in between her and Grover.

"Okay, okay!" Grover said as he put up his hands and backed up. "I'm backing down!"

The glow in Thalia's eyes faded and Grover's shirt stopped sizzling. Thalia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Once she opened them again, I could tell that she had calmed down.

"Thank you." Chiron said, before turning back to look at me. "Percy are you sure that you are…"

"I'm fine, Chiron!" I exclaimed, interrupting him.

Chiron looked a bit concerned and everyone went silent. Even Clarisse stopped hitting her bag next to me.

"Percy," Chiron spoke. "Perhaps you should consider counseling."

I shook my head.

"I said, "I'm fine, Chiron"." I said through gritted teeth.

Everyone fell silent again. Eventually, Grover spoke up.

"Well, anyway Percy, we came down here to tell you that Mr. D wants to see you." He said.

"Tell him I'll go see him tomorrow." I said as I turned back to the bag. "I want to finish my workout."

"You should go see him now." Chiron said.

I began punching the bag again, ignoring what Chiron had said.

"Percy." Thalia said, trying to get my attention.

"You'll tell him that I'll see him tomorrow." I said as I continued hitting the bag without looking at them.

Everyone was silent now.

"Come on everybody, let's go." Grover said. "We're wasting our time."

Chiron and Grover trotted off, while Thalia stayed. She stood there for several minutes as I kept working the bag. Finally, she spoke.

"Whatever it is you're thinking about," she said. "I hope you feel better."

She turned and walked away without another word to me. I continued working the bag for what seemed like an hour, when Clarisse walked past me.

"Hey Jackson, the Campfire Sing-Along is going to be starting soon." She said. "Are you coming?"

She was right, the sun was almost done setting.

"No." I said as I continued punching the bag. "I'm going to skip that, too."

"Oh, okay then." She said. "Well, good night then."

"Yeah." I said as she walked out of the Training Arena.

I kept working the bag for maybe another half an hour and I finally reached the point where I was exhausted. So, I decided to quit for the night. I gathered up my weapons and walked back to Cabin Three. Once I got back, I unstrapped the Ace bandages from my hands and put them on one of the side tables. I walked over to my weapon rack and deposited my bow, quiver of arrows and my spare dagger.

Once I had done that I walked into the cabin's bathroom and turned on the shower, before stripping off my clothes. I was really tense from the workout and I wanted a relaxing hot shower before bed.

 _Thirty Minutes Later_

After a half hour long steamy, relaxing shower, I finally turned off the water and stepped out. I willed myself to be dry and then put on a pair of boxers, as well as a pair of basketball shorts. I stepped out of the bathroom and back into the main cabin. I shut the lights off in the bathroom and walked over to my bed.

I had decided to call lights out early. Well, the lights were already out, not that it matters. I dropped Riptide, in its pen form, onto my nightstand. I fell face first onto my bed and put my head into the pillow. I just wanted to fall asleep quickly. I knew that she'd be waiting for me in my dreams.

But then, it hit me. I lifted my head off of the pillow, as I sensed something familiar in the room. That's when it dawned on me that I wasn't alone in the cabin. I grabbed Riptide and uncapped it, allowing it to grow into full sword form as I jumped up and off the bed. I looked across the room where I saw her.

I knew who it was. I could see her blonde hair, curled like a princess's, illuminated by the moonlight coming in through the window. She sat in a chair across the room, staring at me with her legs crossed over each other.

"Annabeth." I said at last.

I could see her smile in the moonlight.

"Hey, Percy." She said in casual tone. "Long time no see."

 _Author's Note:_

* So, what do you think? The actual plot will be revealed over the next few chapters. I hope that you enjoyed!

* Anything I left out in this chapter will likely be mentioned/explained next chapter. Anyway, please follow and favorite the story if you enjoyed it. If you want to submit input, consider posting a review maybe? Anyway, I'm going to though, so have a great day and bye.

Next Chapter: Percy and Annabeth reunite after five years. Mr. D assigns the two to a special mission.


	2. Chapter 2: Awakening

_Author's Note:_

* Well, it's been a while since Chapter One, hasn't it? Jesus, I'm sorry. I realize that people like this story and that it's practically nonexistent at this point, and you may not believe me, but I am sorry. I realize that's it's not cool to leave this thing on a cliffhanger for almost a year and again, I'm sorry.

* So, this is going to be a longer author's note and I'm putting it ahead of the actual chapter title, because I'd like it to be read. So, here I go. I had been working on Chapter Two in the week following Chapter One, but in November I started writing another story that consumed all my time.

* So, I didn't forget that this story existed, I just kept putting it off to work on other stories of mine. I regret doing this, as I really wanted to see this story through, and I still do. I still have some ideas for how I want this story to go and I'm not abandoning it. So, I promise not to do this anymore.

* From now on, this story will be more active, and updates won't be months apart, I promise. I have every intention of finishing this story at some point and I will be actively working on it from now on. No more long hiatuses, so I hope you all will be happy to hear that. I do have to deal with college during the fall, winter and spring, but that shouldn't cause any prolonged delays.

* Anyway, welcome to Chapter Two!

* I realize that how we got from point A to point B may be unclear, in terms of what happened between Annabeth becoming a Hunter and she reuniting with Percy five years later. Well, the series ended pretty much like it originally had, just with the roles of Annabeth and Thalia being switched. They still prevented the rise of Kronos, Luke still died, everything that happened in the books still happened, with the exception of Percy and Annabeth's romance. That didn't happen.

* The plot will start to become clear in this chapter. That's all I will say. So, let's get right down into the chapter!

Chapter 2: Awakening

 _ **Disclaimer: I Don't Own the Percy Jackson Series or Any of the Characters. All Rights go to Rick Riordian for creating this Extraordinary Adventure!**_

 _Percy_

 _Cabin Three_

"Annabeth." I said at last.

I could see her smile in the moonlight.

"Hey, Percy." she said in a casual tone. "Long time no see."

I continued standing there, without a word, staring at her in the moonlight as she stared back at me. I finally got over the shock of seeing her in my cabin, past lights out and reached for the lamp that sat on the nightstand and turned it on. I let out a sigh as I fell down onto the bed. She wore silver pants, silver tennis shoes, a silver tank top, a silver leather jacket, silver owl ear rings, basically she wore silver everything.

"Gods, Annabeth. Why are you… Where were you…" I let out a sigh as I looked down, before looking back up at her. "What are you doing here?"

Annabeth didn't move from her spot in the chair.

"What?" she asked as she cocked her head at me, her blonde hair swaying. "I can't visit my best friend?"

That's when I noticed it. Annabeth is a Hunter of Artemis. So, she should have looked fourteen years old, just like she had on the Winter Solstice, five years ago. But she didn't look fourteen. She looked like she was nineteen, same age as I.

"Annabeth," I asked. "Did you leave the Hunters? Did you resign?"

She looked at me with a confused expression.

"No, I'm still a Hunter." She said. "What makes you ask?"

"You were fourteen when you took the pledge to be a Hunter." I said. "But you look like you're nineteen, my age."

She smirked at me.

"Hunters can manipulate their age to determine how old or young they look to other people, Seaweed Brain." She said.

I wanted to believe Annabeth. I mean, this _was_ Annabeth I was talking to. She now noticed that I was still holding Riptide.

"Um, Percy?" she asked. "You can put Riptide away now."

"No, I'm going to pass on that." I said. "You haven't explained to me why you're in my cabin past lights out."

"So, I'm guessing you haven't seen Mr. D yet?" she asked.

"Um, no?" I asked in return. "What does that have to do with this? Can you just tell me why you're here?"

"Mr. D has a special mission for you." She said. "You leave in a couple days with your partner."

"What special mission?" I asked. "Partner?"

"You're wondering what the mission is, right?" she asked.

"Um, yeah?" I asked.

I don't know why, but it felt like Annabeth was acting different then she usually does. Was it just me? She was a Hunter now after all, so maybe it was that.

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you that, Percy." She said. "I've been sworn to silence until we go to speak with Mr. D in the morning."

"So, I'm going on a special mission?" I asked.

She nodded without a word.

"Who's my partner?" I asked.

It looked like my question offended her.

"Who do you think your partner is, Seaweed Brain?" she asked with an irritated expression. "I am!"

"Oh, um, I should have guessed that, I guess." I said, scratching the back of my neck.

"You think?" she asked as she chuckled.

There was silence between us after that. I was trying to figure out what to say to her, but I couldn't think of anything. Well, to be truthful, there were a lot of things I wanted to ask her, but I couldn't decide what to say. I finally decided on just asking her where she'd been the last five years.

"Annabeth," I said. "Where have you been the last five years?"

Now she gave me a confused look.

"Percy, I've been a Hunter for the past five years." She said. "I've seen many places, gone on many travels. I haven't exactly had the time to visit."

"You couldn't come to visit at all?" I asked her.

She rolled her eyes, which I'll be honest, kind of offended me.

"I've been busy, Seaweed Brain." She said. "We move from place to place, spar several times a day, hunt for our group. We never stay in the same place for more than a day or two."

"But too busy to visit me, right?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes.

"Percy," she said in an irritated tone. "Are you actually getting salty? Do you harbor hard feelings towards me?"

"So what if I am?" I asked. "You disappeared from my life for five years."

"I think that someone like you would easily get over my leaving." She said.

"You were my best friend, Annabeth." I said.

"Were?" she asked.

"Are."

"No, not "are"." She said. "You said "were". "You _were_ my best friend". What does that mean, Percy?"

"Well, let's look at it this way." I said. "How would you feel if I accepted Zeus's gift of Godhood at the end of the war?"

I expected her face to turn red or at least for her to react in some way, but she didn't.

"Um, I'm not sure I understand?" she asked. "I guess I would be fine with it?"

"Okay, minus you being a Hunter." I said. "How would you feel if mortal Annabeth watched mortal Percy accept Godhood?"

"I'm not mortal." She said. "And neither are you."

"You know what I mean." I said. "In demigod terms."

"Demigods aren't mortal." She said. "At least, not one hundred percent mortal."

"Annabeth!" I exclaimed with frustration.

"You know what, Percy?" she asked. "You need to calm down."

She was right, I realized.

"Okay." I said. "I can be calm."

"Can you put Riptide away now?" she asked.

I looked down to see that I still had Riptide in my hand and I finally complied, putting the cap back on and sitting it on my nightstand.

"Thank you." She said. "We've been apart for a long time. So, I think it's best if we talk about how we've been and what we've been doing."

"Okay." I said. "You first."

She smirked in response to what I said.

"Typical Percy, huh? Always making me go first?" she asked. "Alright, let me think. What can I say other than the fact that I've been a Hunter?"

I tried to think of something witty to say.

"Um, you could say that you're a Huntress." I said.

She shot me a dangerous glare.

"Watch it, Seaweed Brain." She said in an equally dangerous tone.

There was silence between us again. I finally worked up the courage to speak.

"So, what do you do as a Hunter?" I asked.

She didn't say anything at first.

"I don't know." She said. "A whole lot of things come to mind."

"Okay. Well, why don't you just say things as they come to mind?" I asked.

"Okay." She said. "Um, we go on a lot of hunts. Crazy, right? We don't hunt and kill many animals though. Lady Artemis has a strict rule about killing no more than we need to feed ourselves."

"Wow," I said. "You truly are a Hunter of Artemis. You even call her "Lady Artemis"."

She glared at me.

"Well, of course I call her that. We're loyal to her!"

I shrugged.

"There's nothing wrong with being loyal, Annabeth."

Her gaze quickly softened as she smiled once more.

"Well, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"What have you been up to?"

I let out a sigh as I sat back down on my bed.

"Not a whole lot. I haven't done much. I never finished school. I had to drop out in the second half of senior year. The monster attacks got so bad that I had to come here full time."

"Well, that's unfortunate. But at least you're safe here."

I shrugged.

"It kind of sucks, I guess. Most of the time, I just sit around and engage in camp activities. Although, the other have the time, I'm training relentlessly."

Annabeth looked confused.

"Training for what?"

"I'm not training for anything actually. The Second Olympian War may be over, but that doesn't mean I can allow myself to fall out of shape."

She looked at me with admiration.

"That's a mature way to look at it, Percy."

I shrugged again as I thought about what else there was to say.

"Um, I haven't been on a single quest since the end of the war. All I'm doing is staying here and continuing my training routine. I guess I can say that Thalia and I dated for a while."

She chuckled.

"You and Thalia dated? How did that go?"

"It went fine." I said. "But we called it off today."

She tilted her head once more.

"What went wrong? Were you two not compatible?"

"No, we weren't. But that wasn't the problem. I was the problem, so I called it off for the good of both of us."

"Why were you the problem?"

"I didn't really want a relationship."

"And she did?"

I shrugged.

"How would I know? I _never_ know what Thalia wants."

Annabeth began to chuckle at that. She leaned in the chair a little bit as she rested her chin into her hand.

"Gods, Percy. You haven't changed at all!"

I chuckled as well.

"Yeah, well, I wish I could say the same about you."

She stared back at me with sparkling eyes, as well as a sad smile on her face.

"Have you always been this way with people?"

"What do you mean?"

"Have you always been so cold to others? Giving people the cold shoulder?"

I chuckled once more.

"Only to the people who disappear from my life for five years."

"Well, I suppose I should have expected this."

"Don't take it personally, Annie. It's not you, it's just me. I'll probably view you as a friend again, but it's going to take some time."

She stared at me with a slightly irritated look.

"I understand. And don't call me Annie."

"Why not?"

"Because, it makes me sound like a kid."

"Well, if we're being honest, you kind of are still a kid! I mean, you never technically grew up!"

She let out a hiss of annoyance.

"Watch it, Seaweed Brain." She repeated.

There was silence between us now. I eventually sighed and spoke.

"So, what's the mission?"

She smirked.

"Wait until we go to see Mr. D in the morning."

"You don't even know what the mission is, do you?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then why don't you tell me?"

"Because I'm not the person meant to."

I rolled my eyes.

"Well, not that it hasn't been good to see you, but where are you staying? I'd like to get to sleep at some point."

"I'm staying here."

"Yes, I get you're staying at Camp Half-Blood for a while, but _where_?"

"Um, here? In Cabin Three?"

That shocked me.

"Is Artemis really okay with you doing that?"

She nodded.

"I'm Lady Artemis' most disciplined warrior. She trusts me to follow my oath. She trusts me not to do things that I shouldn't. So, yes. She's okay with me staying wherever I choose."

I let out a sigh.

"Okay, then."

"So, where can I sleep?"

"Pick any bed you want." I said as I got up from my bed.

I moved to the foot of the bed and opened the chest that sat there, pulling out a shirt once it was open. I shut it once again and went back to lay down on my bed. I looked to see that Annabeth had already taken the bed directly across the room from me. She flashed me a friendly smile as she sat down.

"Well, good night then!" she said.

I nodded.

"Same to you."

I turned out the lights once more and laid my head down on the pillow, awaiting sleep to come.

 _The Next Morning_

"Wake up, sleepy head!"

I rolled over on my bed as I continued trying to sleep.

"Mom, I don't want to go to school." I muttered, completely oblivious to reality.

There was silence for a few seconds, but eventually I felt a weird sensation on my face. It felt like something was pinching me. My eyes snapped open and the first thing I saw were stormy gray eyes staring into mine.

"Agh!" I let out a yell as I leaped up from the covers and fell out of the bed.

I landed on the floor in a mess of tangled sheets, all while Annabeth laughed through all of it. Once I saw her and remembered the events of last night, I calmed down a bit.

"Gods, Annabeth." I muttered as I got up onto my knee and put my hand on my bed. "Don't do that! What were you doing, pinching me?!"

She nodded, laughing still.

"Why? You could have shaken me!"

"Yeah, but that wouldn't have been fun!"

I sighed as I pulled the sheets off and sat down on the bed. I didn't say anything in return this time.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain. It's time for breakfast."

I sighed as I waved at her.

"You go on and I'll catch up. I need to get dressed."

She left without another word. I let out a sigh as I put my head into my hands.

 _Gods, this is going to be interesting._

 _One Hour Later_

 _The Big House_

Annabeth and I stood in Mr. D's office inside the big house. We had been waiting for the past couple minutes, while Mr. D was writing in a book of some kind. I cleared my throat. Mr. D held up his hand and put his index finger up, still ignoring us. I finally crossed my arms over my chest in a fit of anger. Annabeth took notice of this and cleared her throat as well.

"Mr. D?" she said his name.

He held up his finger once more as he muttered to himself, before closing his book and putting his pen down a few seconds later.

"Yes?" he asked as he looked up at us.

Once he saw us, he seemed to start paying attention.

"Well, well, well. Annabelle Chase and Perry Johnson." He said as he got up. "To what do I owe this unwanted intrusion?"

"Hi, Mr. D! Great to see you again!" Annabeth replied.

I just looked at her with confusion.

 _Annabeth has never been this cheery!_

I looked back at Mr. D as I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, Mr. D." I replied. "My name is Percy, you know that!"

He moved to a shelf with his book in hand.

"Yes, yes, of course, Porky." He replied as he put the book up on the shelf. "Now, why don't you tell me why you never came by my office last night?"

I slapped my forehead at the name he gave me next.

"Um, I didn't feel like it? I wanted to finish my workout." I said. "And I was tired after, so I went back to my cabin. And there I found that Annabeth had broken in."

"Hey, I didn't break in! I _snuck_ in. There's a difference!"

I waved my hand at her.

"Eh, whatever."

"If you two are done acting like children, can we get down to business?"

"Oh, you think we're acting like children? Well, that's convenient, because she _is_ a child!"

"Oh, come on! Not with that again!"

She punched me in the arm and not playfully.

"Focus!" Mr. D exclaimed.

I looked back at him to see him moving to a shelf across the room.

"Sorry." Annabeth and I said in unison.

He looked back at us.

"Wine?" he asked. "Oh, wait. You're still underage and you're a child. Sorry."

Annabeth sighed. Mr. D pulled a bottle of wine off the shelf, followed by a glass. He set the glass down on the desk and pulled the cork.

"Can Mr. D drink wine yet?" Annabeth whispered to me.

"He must be having one of his off days." I whispered back. "And besides, has it been a hundred years yet?"

Mr. D poured the wine and as soon as it got into the glass, it transformed into Diet Coke. Mr. D let out a sigh as the sky thundered from outside.

"I should have known. Yes, yes, I'm sorry!"

Mr. D put the cork back in the bottle and walked back to the shelf, placing it up there.

"Now, if you two are done joking around," he spoke as he sat down, grabbing his glass and putting his feet up on the desk. "You're here now. So, let's get to it."

He took a drink from the Diet Coke and let out a sigh.

"This will have to do until I'm out of this prison."

I was starting to get angry.

"Okay, I'm impatient. So, can we please get down to business?!"

Mr. D looked up at me.

"Well, yes. Of course. Well, it's unfortunate news, children."

Annabeth and I exchanged glances. I looked back at Mr. D.

"The Gods, Chiron and I have reason to believe that the Goddess Gaea is awakening."

 _Author's Note:_

* So, that's it. Once again, I'm sorry it took so long, but it's here now. So, that said, I hope you enjoyed!

* Please do review. Speaking of reviews, from here on out, I'll be doing review responses. That way, there will be a sort of incentive to reviewing, getting a direct response from me.

* So, I'm going to go though. Have a great day and bye.

 _ **Review Responses**_

 _StellaAthena36 (Chapter 1): ok, I'm sorry, but first: Thalia and Percy are GROSS and Percy would've said that earlier, second: Percy is too feel-y to get not feel-y and third: if Annie could visit, then she would've already. but whatever. good start!_

 _xxstella_

Thank you, Stella. I get it that Thalia and Percy is weird and it's not permanent. So, you needn't worry about that. What do you mean by Percy is too feel-y to get not feel-y? I hope the explanation for why Annabeth never visited is adequate. Thanks for the review, as always.

 _merendinoemiliano (Chapter 1): Could be interesting, i'll follow. Best of luck with next chapters._

Thank you. I'm glad that you think it might be interesting. Thanks for the review, as always.

 _Bruce77 (Chapter 1): Very well written! The plot got my attention, but the writing kept it. Two things though. One; Percy is an adult by now, he was 14 in Titans curse and five years later he would be 19, so he's an adult. In Ancient Greece, he would've been considered an adult by the time he reached 17._

 _Two; I feel like Percy should be petty towards Annabeth, at least for a couple chapters. Don't make it like he immediately falls over for her. He should be indifferent for a couple chapters, maybe two chapters until he gets over himself. Then you can have your lovestory. Just my opinion though. You write what you feel like writing, it's your art, not mine. KUTGW and good luck._

Thanks, Bruce. Thanks for the lesson on ages and adulthood in Ancient Greece. Percy definitely won't fall for Annabeth immediately. It'll be a while. I realized that this may be a long story, so I have time. Thanks for your words of kindness. Thanks for the review, as always.

 _avengersassemble1099 (Chapter 1): I'm very interested to see where this goes._

Thanks, Avenger. I'm glad that you're interested. Thanks for the review, as always.

 _Guest Review (Chapter 1):_

 _Please please please update_

Sorry that it took so long. It's here now and as I said before, more updates will come, and they'll be quicker this time. Thanks for the review, as always.

 _jodanfritz10 (Chapter 1): please update_

Thanks, Jodan. It's here now and more updates are coming at ya! Thanks for the review, as always.

 _Hi Im Manu (Chapter 1): seems like a good story,very well written. I like the idea with Annabeth joining the that you don't update,it's really shitty to end it with a cliffhanger and tease the reader what will happen next chapter and then don't update it for months._

Thanks, Manu. I'm glad you like the story and the idea of it. And yes, I'm aware what I did was shitty. I'm sorry that I kept putting it off. But I promise that won't happen again. Thanks for the review, as always.

Next Chapter: Annabeth and Percy are debriefed for a secret mission. Percy distances himself from Annabeth.


	3. Chapter 3: Refusal

Chapter 3: Refusal

 _ **Disclaimer: I Don't Own the Percy Jackson Series or Any of the Characters. All Rights go to Rick Riordian for creating this Extraordinary Adventure!**_

 _Author's Note:_

* Hello and welcome to Chapter Three!

* So, for this chapter, Annabeth and Percy are going to have a sort of conflict. I don't want to give much away, however, I will say that The Heroes of Olympus, sequel series to Percy Jackson and The Olympians, will tie into this story.

* And by that, I mean I'm going to try and tell my spin on it. It'll be the same plot, same characters and all that jazz. That's what I meant when I said this will probably be a long story. So, with that said, let's get right into the chapter!

 _Percy_

 _The Big House – Mr. D's Office_

I scratched the back of my neck as I blinked.

"What do you mean "The Goddess Gaea" is awakening?" I asked.

Mr. D cast a look of confusion my way.

"Don't you know who Gaea is, Perry?"

I felt my face turn red from annoyance. But nonetheless, I began to think. I began to snap my fingers repeatedly as I thought to myself.

"Um, wasn't Gaea known to be the Mother of the Earth? Mother of the Titans?"

"That's good enough." Mr. D replied. "It would seem that you aren't entirely daft."

I let out a sigh of annoyance.

"What about her? Why would Gaea waking up be a problem? Isn't she a Goddess instead of a Titan? Wouldn't that mean that she's you know, not evil?"

Mr. D let out a chuckle which was rare for him.

"Kid, Gaea being a Goddess has nothing to do with it."

"Yeah, Percy." Annabeth replied. "Didn't you know that?"

I sighed.

"Come on, Annabeth. You know that I'm not good with history."

"Obviously not." Mr. D answered for her.

I turned back to him.

"So, uh, what's a guy gotta know?" I asked.

Mr. D stretched, but kept his feet up on the desk.

"Gaea was the first Goddess to be born from the Void of Chaos. That's the void that created everything, in case you didn't know. She's had two husbands, first off was Ouranos, whom she had the Titans with. And then there was Tartarus, with whom she had the Giants. She would present her children, the Titans with a freshly forged scythe, which they would use to kill Ouranos. You've obviously heard of how she saved Zeus from being eaten by his father."

"Aren't you skipping a few things?"

"I'm only including the things that matter. Pay attention."

I let out a huff, but said nothing.

"She began to stir in her sleep once again during the Second World War, when the Gods were fighting amongst themselves. We have no idea what she tried, but she eventually did go back to sleep."

"I'm very confused. Also, I think I battled one of her sons during the Battle of the Labyrinth."

"Yes, you did. And pay attention. Recently, we've noticed that the Doors of Death have been opened."

"The Doors of Death? What are those?"

"You don't know what the Doors of Death are?" Annabeth asked.

I shook my head.

"I told you that history isn't one of my best qualities!"

"The Doors of Death are personal gateways that the Death God Thanatos uses to enter and exit the Underworld." Mr. D explained.

"So, let me see if I'm understanding this." I said. "Gaea waking up is bad, right?"

He nodded.

"It would be very unfortunate. It wouldn't be good for anyone."

I turned to Annabeth, to see that she had a smirk on her face.

"Let me guess." I said as I turned to Mr. D once more. "You want Annabeth and I to handle it?"

Mr. D chuckled as he took another sip of his Diet Coke. He lowered the glass, before gazing at me with a serious look on his face.

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because, she hasn't awoken yet. We're going to begin training campers in the event that she does. In the meantime, we need to find more Half-Bloods."

"Then go find them! Isn't that what the Satyrs are for? Your Searchers?"

Mr. D's face was growing red. I could tell he was getting angry. And he wasn't the only one. I was beginning to get frustrated as well.

"We already have Satyrs out in the world! And one of them have found three promising Half-Bloods!"

"Okay, so what?"

"So, I want you and Annabeth to go out into the world and meet up with the three and their Satyr! There are two boys and one girl! I want you to bring them back here, so that we can..."

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold on, just a second."

Mr. D looked at me with a look of confusion.

"What do you think this is? That Annabeth and I will go fetch you the Half-Bloods that we need?"

He nodded.

"Yes. Now, once you retrieve them and bring them back here, then we can begin focusing on the Gaea situation."

I shook my head.

"Sorry, but I'm not doing it."

"Excuse me?" he asked.

Before I could answer, Annabeth appeared in front of me.

"What do you mean, you won't do it?" she asked with a look of annoyance in her eyes.

"Annabeth, what made you think that I would go for this?"

Now she looked confused.

"Percy, I don't understand what you're saying."

I was starting to get frustrated with her as well. Actually, scratch that. Since her mysterious reappearance last night, I had been frustrated with her.

"Annabeth, you disappeared from my life for five years. Five years! And now you show up again, not to see me, but so I can help you with a favor!"

"Why do you think I kept you up past lights out last night talking with you?"

"So, you could trick me into thinking that you were actually here to see me!"

She just looked at me, with a look of disappointment on her face. I finally looked back at Mr. D and shook my head.

"Find someone else. I'm not doing it."

I turned back to Annabeth.

"Find someone else to help you with your errand." I replied before walking towards the doorway. "I'm out of here."

 _Annabeth_

Mr. D was silent until Percy had left the room.

"Well, let's find you a new partner then." He said at last as he stood up and walked to one of the shelves.

"No."

He turned to look at me.

"No?"

"No." I said in a firm tone. "He'll come around, Mr. D. I don't know how, but he will. I know him. Percy Jackson isn't one to let people down when they need his help."

 _Percy_

 _Ten Minutes Later_

 _The Training Arena_

Once I left the Big House, I was pretty irritated. So, I went back to my cabin to pick up my hand wraps, before heading down to the Training Arena. I want to mention that there were two changes to Camp Half-Blood after the war ended. One, new cabins were built for the minor Gods and Goddesses. And two, we now had a Library, thanks to the children of Athena putting in a request for one. So, a Library was built in between The Big House and The Training Arena. It offered fictional and non-fictional works from the mortal world, as well as books on the histories of the Gods and Goddesses, Mount Olympus and stuff like that. Whenever I had to go to The Big House, I would always have to walk past the library. I wrapped my hands and then began hitting the bag like I had been doing yesterday. I had been alone in the Arena for about ten or fifteen minutes, before I heard someone speak from behind me.

"Those are new." I heard her say.

I stopped hitting the bag and turned around, to see Annabeth standing there. I let out a sigh as I turned back to the bag and went back to punching it.

"Clarisse requested them a while back. Thank her for it. What do you want?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you here?"

She didn't say anything for a few seconds as I continued punching the bag.

"You know that you're not doing that the right way, right?"

I stopped punching the bag once more and turned to look at her.

"Excuse me?"

"You going about punching that bag all wrong, Percy. Most people normally..." she sighed as she cut herself off. "Here, let me show you."

Before I knew it, Annabeth was standing beside me with hands grabbing onto my forearms.

"What you're doing is some kind of funky uppercut stuff." She said. "What you want to be doing is..."

She forced me to move my fists so that my thumbs no longer faced me and instead, the short end of my fists did.

"Most people hit the bag in a three hit combo before resetting. Like this!"

Annabeth forced my hand to move forward and make contact with the bag. I let out an annoyed sigh, as I yanked my forearm from one of her hands, which caused her to let go of my other arm and back away.

"I'll hit the bag however I want to Annabeth!" I exclaimed as I went back to the way I had been punching it before.

As I continued punching it the way I had been, I got the sense that she hadn't moved. I turned to see her still standing there. I rolled my eyes.

"Why did you really come down here, Annabeth?" I asked as I turned back to the bag.

"To ask you to reconsider." She replied.

"Reconsider?" I asked as I began hitting the bag again.

"You should reconsider about helping me with the mission."

"No, I know exactly what you're talking about. And you can forget it."

"Percy, why won't you just help me?" she asked in a calm voice.

I gritted my teeth and began to punch the bag harder.

"Because that's all you want from me! You disappear for five years and then decide to show back up, not to see me, but to ask if I'll help you with an errand! Even if I did help, you'd disappear again right after we were finished!"

She looked at me with an offended glance.

"Why do you think I asked for a few days in advance before the mission? I wanted to catch up with you!"

I let out a growl of annoyance. I finally stepped away from the bag and looked at her.

"Annabeth, stop trying to confuse me!" I exclaimed with anger.

"Percy, I'm your friend! I thought you would have been willing to help me!"

I laughed with sarcasm.

"No, you're not! If you were really my friend, you would have come to visit me a long time ago!"

She looked at me with an offended glance still. I began to walk towards the exit of the Training Arena.

"Wait, where are you going?" I heard her ask from behind me.

"I'm going to put my stuff away. I want to take a dip in the canoe lake."

I continued to walk towards the exit, but eventually I stopped and turned around to look at Annabeth with an angry gaze. I walked a few steps closer to her.

"You know what, Annabeth? Why don't you go abandon another one of your friends for five years? That seems to be what you're best at."

I then whipped myself back around and continue walking towards the exit.

 _Later That Night_

 _Cabin Three_

Annabeth and I were back in my cabin. She sat cross legged on the bed across the room from mine, reading a book. Meanwhile, I was on the floor next to my bed, doing push-ups. I was exercising in silence, until she spoke up.

"You know, if you're doing that just to impress me, you can stop now."

I growled with anger.

"I'm not doing this because you're here, I do this every night!"

"Then how come you didn't do it last night?"

"I was tired!"

"Uh-huh. So, you say."

I gritted my teeth to keep from yelling at her. I was having enough trouble already trying to focus on my exercises. I couldn't stop thinking about Gaea and the mission to find these three new Demigods. Why was I so interested in Gaea all of a sudden? Something deep down inside of me was telling me to find out more about her. Why was this going on? Regardless of my confusion, my thoughts continued to run rampant.

I began to think about the Library's restricted section. Yes, the Library had a restricted section. The staff of Camp Half-Blood kept books in there only for emergencies. They also noted that books in the restricted section shouldn't be extensively studied. Honestly, they may have been afraid what happened with Luke may happen to another Demigod. So, that may be why they didn't want such books to be read on a daily basis.

 _That's it. There had to be information on Gaea in the restricted section._

I quickly stood up from the floor, while Annabeth looked up from my sudden movement.

"What is it?" she asked.

I walked over to the chest of the clothes that sat at the foot of my bed.

"I just realized something." I muttered as I opened the chest.

"And that is?"

"Don't worry about it."

I moved away from the chest and went to get my shoes on.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked. "We only have half an hour before lights out!"

I ignored her still as I pulled both of my shoes on.

"Percy?" she said my name as I walked back to the open chest.

"I told you not to worry about it." I muttered as I began digging through the chest.

I dug through layer after layer of clothes, looking for the bottom of the chest. After several seconds, I found what I was looking for: a faded blue Yankees cap. I pulled it out and stuffed it in my pocket.

"Is that my old Yankees cap?" she asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"Wait, what are you doing? Where are you going?"

I walked to the door to the cabin and opened it.

"I'm doing something that I probably shouldn't be doing."

I then stepped outside and shut the door behind me.

 _Author's Note:_

* I know that this may not be the greatest place to end it, but it is what it is. Though, I do promise that the next chapter will come sooner rather than later. But regardless, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

* Let me know about anything you like or dislike about this chapter in reviews! Your thoughts are important to me!

* Anyway, I'm going to go though. So, have a fantastic day and bye!

 _ **Review Responses**_

 _jodanfritz10 (Chapter 2): thanks for updating. this story has potential._

Thanks, Fritz. I agree, I think this story has _so much_ potential. I will not be abandoning it. Thanks for the review, as always.

Next Chapter: Percy breaks into the Library's restricted section and takes information on Gaea. Later, he relunctantly agrees to help Annabeth and Mr. D with the mission.


	4. Chapter 4: The Restricted Section

Chapter 4: The Restricted Section

 _ **Disclaimer: I Don't Own the Percy Jackson Series or Any of the Characters. All Rights go to Rick Riordian for creating this Extraordinary Adventure!**_

 _Author's Note:_

* Hello and welcome to Chapter Four!

* Sorry for the lack of an update in the last two weeks! Classes have started for me again and I've been pretty busy, but don't worry, I'm sticking to my promise! I'm going to keep updating and working on this, even if it takes a while. So, you all don't have a thing to worry about!

* Anyway, with all that said, let's get right into the chapter!

 _Percy_

 _Camp Half-Blood_

The sun was just beginning to set now, so I had to hurry. If I was being honest, I couldn't afford to be seen. That would just slow me down. I have to avoid contact with anyone. I let out a sigh as I put on Annabeth's old Yankees cap. The next thing I knew, I was entirely invisible, so I began to jog towards the Library.

Once I reached the door of the Library, it immediately opened and I narrowly avoiding running into another camper. I sidestepped out of the way and once the camper was gone, I slipped into the Library as the door shut. I looked ahead to the reception desk, to see a counselor sitting at the desk, with his feet up, reading a book. He hadn't even looked up.

 _Good, I slipped in undetected. Now, I just need the key to the Restricted Section._

I looked beyond the desk, where on the wall right behind the counselor's chair, there were a row of prongs.

 _And of course, the key I need is on one of those prongs. Right behind the counselor that's watching the reception area._

I silently made my way forward, as he continued reading from his book. Eventually, I reached the prongs that were just to the left of him. I slowly reached out and eventually grabbed the key I needed, all the while, he never looked up. I then gingerly pulled the key off of the prong and once again, he didn't notice. In my victory, I felt cocky.

"You shouldn't be so oblivious to your surroundings." I whispered in a near silent tone.

He still didn't move, look up or do anything. But of course, my cockiness would be a mistake. As I turned to move down the hall, my hand nailed a stack of papers that sat on the desk, sending them flying. The counselor finally looked up from his book. He eventually put his feet down and got up, I had to move out of the way as he moved over to where I had been standing. After he looked around a bit, he did something that surprised me.

"No running in the halls!" he yelled as he walked back to sit down at the desk.

He then put his feet up and began to read once more, as if nothing had happened. I couldn't help but feel the urge to laugh, but I couldn't afford to draw any attention to myself. So, I quietly walked past the reception desk and down the hall to the small Library. Like I said before, it offered real world literature of fiction and non-fiction works and material on the Gods of Olympus.

The Library had two floors, however, I only needed access to one of them. The Restricted Section was on the first floor, behind a locked gate. A gate that I just so happened to have the key to. I walked up to said gate and just stood there for a second, looking at the metal gate. Once I got over my awe, I put the key into the keyhole and unlocked it, then slowly pushed it open, trying to be as silent as I could.

I walked through the gate and into the small, confined Restricted Section. There were three shelves in the room. Two short shelves against the shorter walls and one big one on the widest wall. Just to touch on how confined this room is, it could probably fit six people max in here before it was considered crowded. I walked up to the shelf and began to look through the books on the shelf. As I looked, I saw a book that stood out to me. It was a book on World War II. I was confused.

 _Why was there a book on World War II in here? I mean, I knew that there were half-bloods that took part in the war, but is this book really that much of a threat, to be kept here?_

Annabeth is a history buff. She might like books like this. I'll try and talk to Chiron about being a little more open with the Restricted Section once all this blows over. I continued looking through the shelf of books until I saw one that stood out. It was dark red or maroon, and its spine was bigger than any of the rest of the books.

 _This has to be it._

I pulled the book out and off of the shelf and held it in my hands for a few seconds. It turned invisible the second I touched it, so I had to take off the Yankees cap and put it on the shelf. The book now reappeared, and I was able to look at it. The front cover of the book was a faded maroon color, so it must have been old. The title was also "A More Than Brief History of Ancient Greece, It's Gods and Goddesses, Titans and Monsters".

"Gods, that's a mouthful of a title." I muttered to myself. "But this is definitely the book I need to look through."

I grabbed the Yankees cap from the shelf and put it back on. I then walked out of the Restricted Section and placed the book under my arm, as I reached for the key to the gate that I had put in my pocket. Once I had pulled it out, I slowly pulled the gate shut and locked it again. Unfortunately, as I locked it, the book fell from under my arm and hit the floor with a thud.

I quickly slipped the key back into my pocket and bent down to pick up the book, causing it to turn invisible once again. A few seconds after that, I heard the counselor from the reception desk get up from his chair.

"What was that noise?" he called out.

When nobody answered, I heard him begin to walk down the hall. It was at that point that I quickly and quietly moved to the wall that the hallway connected with, that way I'd have no chance of him bumping into me. Once he walked into the area, he looked around the room.

"Who's back here?" he called.

When no one answered, he shook his head and let out a sigh.

"Maybe I should call it a night. I'm clearly hearing things."

I took no time in rushing down the hall once he had moved again.

"Oh, great. Now I'm hearing manic echoing footsteps!"

I grabbed the key from my pocket once more and slipped it back onto one of the prongs on my way out.

 _A Few Minutes Later_

 _Cabin Three_

As soon as I rushed through the door, taking off the Yankees cap, Annabeth looked up with surprise.

"Percy? What is it?" she asked.

I ignored her as I moved over to my trunk, setting the book from the Restricted Section on my bed as I opened it.

"Wait, what is that?"

"It's a book, called "A More Than Brief History of Ancient Greece, It's Gods and Goddesses, Titans and Monsters". I snuck into the Library's Restricted Section to find it."

Annabeth was silent behind me. I turned around to see her staring at me wide-eyed.

"What?" I finally asked.

"You were never that reckless when we were kids, Percy!" she replied.

I rolled my eyes with a chuckle as I turned away from her once again.

"A lot can happen in five years, Annie."

"I told you not to call me that."

"I can do whatever I want."

I took my shoes off and sat down on my bed to begin reading from the book. As I opened the book and began scanning the table of contents for a section of Gaea, I felt an urge of some kind tugging at my mind. I finally looked up at Annabeth, who had gone back to reading from her book.

"Hey."

She looked up at me.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

She shut her book, now having a look of curiosity on her face.

"Sorry about what?"

"I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier today. About you should abandon another one of your friends for five years. That was uncalled for and I'm sorry."

She smirked.

"So, you admit that you were wrong then? About refusing to help us?"

I shook my head with surprise.

"No, I just meant that I was sorry about what I had said about you. I meant everything I said about the mission."

"You're not even going to help out an old friend?"

"Why should I? For all I know, you'll just run off again once we're finished."

She heaved a sigh.

"There you go again, Percy."

"There I go again? What do you mean?"

"There you are again, acting as though I'm going to leave again."

"You disappeared for five years. What's stopping you from disappearing for another five years?"

"Can you stop with that? If I have to leave, then I have to leave, that's what these couple days were for. To catch up with you. I don't want to leave, but if I have to, then that's that."

"Why can't you just stay here? You're still a Hunter, but you stick around Camp to help with anything that comes up. You'd make a good instructor or something."

"A good instructor?"

I sighed.

"Look, I don't know! You know a lot, okay? You can teach archery or history, or something! Just don't leave again!"

She shook her head.

"It doesn't work that way, Percy. The Hunters always need me. I'm one of Lady Artemis's lieutenants, not some scout."

"You can't stay here and still be one of her lieutenants?"

She just shook her head again. I scoffed.

"Whatever you say." I replied as I looked down at the book again.

"Sorry if you don't like what you hear, it's just the way it is."

I didn't say anything as I scanned the table of contents once more.

"Percy?"

"This conversation is over, Annie. I'm trying to read up on this."

I had called her Annie again to try to make her angry. She'd already upset me, so I think it was fair.

"Reading up on what?" she asked a few seconds later.

"Gaea." I replied without looking up at her.

"What's got you so interested in the mission? I thought you didn't want to do it?"

"It's not about the mission. I'm just interested in her backstory. I want to know what all the hub bub about her is."

After a few seconds, she chuckled.

"You did not seriously just say "hub bub"."

I ignored her as I finally found the section I was looking for. I flipped through the pages of the book until I came to the section on Gaea.

"Why don't you just ask me your questions about Gaea instead of reading a book about her?"

"Because I don't know if I can trust what you say anymore."

She went silent after that, finally allowing me to concentrate on the pages in front of me. I started at the very beginning, the first passage in the section about Gaea.

" _Gaea is the Greek primordial Goddess of the Earth; she was the first to have sprung from the void of Chaos."_

 _Mr. D_ _mentioned that today,_ I thought, before going back to reading.

" _Gaea was alone at first and after she wished for company, the sky (or Ouranos) was born. By this time, she gave birth to the domains and mountains (Ourae). Two more Protogenoi were born from Chaos: Pontus (the sea), and Tartarus (the Pit)."_

 _Tartarus? As in, the Tartarus,_ I thought. _like in the Underworld?_

" _Both of them had feelings for Gaea, but she would ultimately choose Ouranos to be her husband. Eventually, she and Ouranos would have three sets of children together, the Titans, the Elder Cyclopes, and the Hekatonkhieres."_

"Hekatonkhieres?" I asked. "Those are the Hundred-Handed-Ones, right?"

"Well, that's their original name, but yes."

" _Gaea loved all her children, however, Ouranos became distant from their family and would grow to resent their children, particularly the two younger races, as they were hideously ugly. Despite Gaea's protests, Ouranos seized the Elder Cyclopes and the Hekatonkhieres, chained them up and cast them to the depths of Tartarus. Angry at her husband's actions, Gaea called forth her remaining (and favorite) children, the Titans, and presented to them her newly forged scythe."_

 _I think Mr. D told us about this,_ I thought.

"You shouldn't be reading that book." Annabeth spoke up once again.

I looked up at her.

"It was in the Restricted Section for a reason, Percy."

"And it has information that I need. So, I needed this book."

"You can't just let me give you the information you need myself?"

"Nope."

"Come on, Percy. I might know what you want out of that book, so just ask me!"

"Yeah, I know that you might. But here's the thing, Annie. I'm not sure if I can trust what you say anymore."

I looked back down at the book and got back to reading.

" _She requested one of them to step forward and take the scythe to kill Ouranos and free their brothers from the Underworld. All of the Titans were indecisive at the prospect of killing their father even though they all hated him, but the youngest and most power-hungry – Kronos – agreed to the deed."_

 _I definitely remember Mr. D mentioning this,_ I thought.

" _He accepted the scythe from Gaea and convinced her to lure Ouranos down to Earth into attending a romantic dinner, so that he and his brothers, with the exception of Oceanus, could ambush him. When Ouranos arrived to meet with Gaea, Krios, Koios, Hyperion, and Iapetus all sprang from their hiding places and ambushed their father."_

" _While his brothers held Ouranos down, Kronos used the scythe to castrate Ouranos and followed up by cutting his body into pieces, flinging Ouranos' severed genitals into the ocean. However, Ouranos cursed Kronos and said that he would one day suffer the fate of being overthrown by his children, just as how Kronos had done to him."_

 _I... I think I'm starting to get why Gaea shouldn't be allowed to awaken. I don't know why I thought that she could be good, just because she wasn't a Titan. She's evil and manipulative. She can get anyone to do anything she says._

" _Her children laughed, but this fate would eventually come true. Gaea would then proclaim Kronos as lord of the universe and after the Elder Cyclopes and the Hekatonkhieres were released, she sank into a deep slumber for a millennia."_

After that, I skimmed the text for something else that stood out to me. I saw a section that detailed her affair with Pontos, which resulted in the birth of Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Keto, and Eurybia, but I didn't give it much thought. I also skipped over the section that detailed how she saved Zeus from being eaten by his father when he was a baby. Finally, I found another section that stood out.

" _Upon reawakening and discovering that the Olympians banished her Titan children to the Pit, Gaea consorted with Tartarus and gave birth to a new set of children: the Gigantes, each one born to oppose a specific God. When it came to the First Giant War, the Olympians received help from Heracles and Dionysus, sons of Zeus and the Giants were defeated."_

" _Gaea's final act of defiance against the Gods was in the form of Typhon, her monstrous son whom she goaded into attacking Olympus. He rose to the upper world and unleashed a path of destruction on his way to Mount Olympus. The Gods rode into battle to face the storm giant, but his ferocious appearance scared them into fleeing all the way to Egypt."_

 _Fleeing all the way to Egypt? I don't think I've ever heard about this!_

" _Only Zeus remained behind, and after a long battle, he managed to defeat Typhon by imprisoning under Mount Etna. Following the defeat of yet another child of hers, Gaea admitted defeat and went back to sleep."_

After that, I continued skimming the text, about ready to stop reading. No, I was ready to stop reading. I had heard enough. I shut the book with force, which made Annabeth jump a bit on the bed across from me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I got up and put the book on the floor, next to my chest at the foot of my bed.

"I now know what I must do." I whispered.

"What? Percy, can you speak up? I can hardly hear you."

I moved back to the bed as I looked up at her.

"It's time to go to sleep. I'm calling lights out."

I shut off of the lamp on my nightstand and got into bed.

"Okay. Well, good night then." She replied.

"Yeah." I replied as I laid down.

 _The Next Morning_

 _The Big House_

To be honest, I completely skipped talking with Annabeth this morning. After grabbing the book and slipping it into my backpack, I headed for The Big House to see Mr. D. He opened his office at eight thirty every morning and right now, I was standing outside the closed double doors to his office. I knocked on the door again.

"Mr. D come on! It's eight thirty-one!" I exclaimed. "I need to talk with you, it's urgent!"

Eventually, after a few more seconds, Mr. D finally opened the doors.

"Why is it that my office has only been open for a minute and I already have an annoying little visitor?!"

I huffed with anger as he said that.

"Good morning to you, too, Mr. D." I said, noting his apparel. "You look great, by the way."

Mr. D looked down at the leopard print robe that he was wearing, black sweatpants and slippers. He then looked back up at me.

"Do you have a problem with the way I'm dressed, Perry?"

 _There he goes again with calling me "Perry"!_

"No. Although, it doesn't exactly scream "God of wine" to me, if you don't mind me saying."

"Doesn't exactly scream "God of wine" to me"," he muttered. "Very good. Well, out with it. What is so important that you must come up here so early to get in my way?"

I stood there for second or two, before I spoke.

"I'll do it."

 _Author's Note:_

* And that's it for the chapter! What do you all think? You may think that this chapter was a bit of a boring read and I don't blame you, as it was somewhat boring to write.

* I just want to apologize for this chapter taking so much longer than the last two. I was falling behind with this and class, along with an expired MS Word subscription didn't help with that. But, the chapter's here now and to me, that's all that matters.

* So, with that being said, I'm think I'm done here. I'm going to go though, so have a fantastic day and bye!

 _ **Review Responses**_

 _ryani (Chapter 3): Damn ill be honest im liking how he is treating annabeth and i cant wait til she finds out how he was/is in love with her when she left him for the hunters. Can't wait for the next chapter_

Thanks, Ryan. I also can't wait for when she finds out, even though I'm the one writing the story and I already know how it'll happen. I'm glad you were looking forward to this chapter. Thanks for the review, as always.

 _SentinalSlice (Chapter 3): I like that Percy is being cold to her. She left him at an age where it would affect him mentally._

Thanks, Sentinal. More people are liking how Percy is acting than I had initially thought. Thanks for the review, as always.

 _SheSaysInParentheses (Chapter 3): Why did you spoil the next chapter at the end lol?_

Thanks. Well, it was kind of obvious, wasn't it? Where else will the story go if Percy doesn't accept the mission? Thanks for the review, as always.

 _jodanfritz10 (Chapter 3): I like how you make this feel real. Most people would have them all fine and dandy even after 5 years of separation. percy would of course have some issues with annabeth after that amount of time. It helps build the story and doesn't make it feel rushed._

Thanks, Jodan. Well, Annabeth left Percy in a bit of a bad situation. It's obviously affected him. And yeah, I'm not rushing this. There will be a relationship between the two of them, at some point. And it's not going to be soon. It'll take a while. Thanks for the review, as always.

Next Chapter: Mr. D informs Annabeth and Percy of their mission. During down time, Percy and Annabeth try to patch up their rocky friendship.


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